Age of Rebirth

For General Umezu Yoshijiro, the commander-in-chief of the Kwantung Army, he had no knowledge of the three mechanized brigades of the independent division that passed by tens of kilometers apart from the Liaoxi Assault Corps under his command. The purpose of this force was to cut him off. retreat.

As for Colonel Wang Dongshan, the chief of staff of the Marine Corps of the Independent Division, he has the upper hand. He knows that there are more than 5 Kwantung Army soldiers marching in the opposite direction to him. In the high crop fields beside the road, I watched trucks full of Kwantung Army soldiers pass by.

"Reporting to the Chief of Staff, I received a report from the reconnaissance troops. The Kwantung Army's Liaoxi Assault Corps just passed us by! According to observations, the Kwantung Army did not notice our army's actions, and they are still marching at full speed!" The staff officer ran to Wang Dongshan and reported.

Wang Dongshan smiled with satisfaction. The situation on the battlefield has reached this point. More than 5 Kwantung Army, as if they were blind, rushed towards Panshan and Beining. There is basically no suspense in this battle. It seems that, It's no problem to carry the head of the old devil Yoshijiro Umezu back to the headquarters!

Wang Dongshan looked at the map and asked the staff: "Where are the troops in the Shandong Garrison Area at present?"

The staff officer replied: "According to the report, it will take another three hours to reach Manduhu, Liaozhong, and Liujianfang!"

"Two hours?" Wang Dongshan pondered for a while, "No, order the four brigade commanders of the Shandong Garrison Army to arrive at Manduhu, Liaozhong, and Liujianfang within two hours. Use two In an hour's time, the troops were deployed and the fortifications were built!"

"How long will it take us to reach the line from Yuhong to Sujiatun?" Wang Dongshan asked again.

"Four hours at the fastest!" The staff officer answered very simply.

"En!" Wang Dongshan nodded, not in a hurry, "Order the troops to continue advancing at the current speed, order the vanguard to pay attention, and try not to arouse the vigilance of the Kwantung Army garrison and the Manchurian army along the way!"

Wang Dongshan is not in a hurry, according to the current marching speed of the Kwantung Army's Liaoxi Assault Corps.Arriving at Manduhu, Liaozhong, and Liujianfang, at the earliest, five or six hours later, the four brigades of the Shandong Garrison District.After the fortifications are completed, there is still more than two hours of rest time, which belongs to waiting for work at leisure, of course.This is the combat effectiveness against the second-line troops.Because of the worry, if it is a field force on the front line, it can start fighting anytime!

As for the three mechanized brigades of interspersed troops under his command, there is no need to worry. After Manduhu, Liaozhong, and Liujianfang start fighting, it may not be his turn to do it himself. What Wang Dongshan is thinking about now is how to appear unexpectedly Behind the Kwantung Army's Liaoxi Assault Corps?

The night gradually faded.In the eastern sky, a faint pale white appeared.It's been an hour since I left Fengtian and **, and the march along the way was surprisingly smooth, without encountering any form of resistance. Sitting in the car with the windows open, General Meijin, who was blown by the wind with the breath of fields, felt the uneasy feeling in his heart. The feeling is getting stronger and stronger, the three words "abnormal!" repeatedly circled in his mind, lingering!

Since the purpose of the Liaoxi Assault Corps coming out of Fengtiancheng, it is impossible to hide from the eyes of the agents of the independent division. According to the routine, even the blocking troops of the independent division on the front line of Panshan and Beining cannot mobilize a sufficient number of troops to carry out blocking and harassment along the way At least, a small number of troops should be sent, or means such as destroying bridges and roads, laying mines, etc., to slow down the marching speed of the Liaoxi Assault Corps!

"The commander of the independent division is not so stupid! More than [-] imperial soldiers came straight to the west of Liaoning, and they didn't notice it?" General Meijin thought to himself, of course he didn't believe it, so there was only one way Maybe, maybe, there is a big trap ahead, waiting for me?

Ambush?It can only be such a trap, but it is back to the old problem of ambushing more than [-] imperial soldiers. Although most of these soldiers have not even touched their rifles a few times before, the number is there after all. The division troops don't use more than [-] troops, and they don't want to eat a mouthful of the Liaoxi Assault Corps. So, where did the [-] independent division troops come from?

He judged that there might be a trap, but he didn't know how to set it up. This made General Meijin, who was already so heavy that he couldn't breathe, became more and more annoyed, so he ordered the driver to stop. He didn't care about the dew, and took a map , walked up a small hillside covered with wormwood alone, facing the direction of Liaoxi, sat down on the grass, and buried his head in looking at the map.

Below the hillside, there are dozens of staff officers and guards, looking at the figure of His Excellency the Commander-in-Chief half-hidden in the knee-deep wormwood, their eyes can't tell whether they are adoring or dazed, and further away, there are one after another, Trucks full of Kwantung Army soldiers passed by, and the roar of motors disturbed the tranquility before dawn.

After more than ten minutes, General Meijin came down from the hillside, and his face obviously improved a lot. Obviously, he had a new idea, so he called a staff officer and ordered: "Convey my order, the five detachments of the corps, in order Marching in sequence, the distance between each detachment must not be less than fifteen kilometers!"

"Send a telegram to the commanders of the several armies in the west of Liaoning, ordering all the troops to prepare to break out immediately. After receiving the order from the headquarters, they will break through the blocking line of the independent division at all costs. Before, don't act rashly!"

The deployment of General Meijin is to deal with the possible traps set by the independent division. Since it is an ambush, the first detachment at the front will be the first to encounter the enemy. They are all veterans who have seen blood on the battlefield. A team with rich combat experience, coupled with the cooperation of dozens of tanks, the ambush troops of the independent division, it is not easy to eat up, and the battle will fall into a stalemate for a period of time.

In this way, it is to warn the following detachments in advance, and it also buys time. They can change direction and launch an attack at any point between Panshan and Beining. The area of ​​more than 100 kilometers between Panshan and Beining?

The Kwantung Army's Liaoxi Assault Corps, according to General Meijin's deployment, moved forward with a high degree of nerves. After the sky brightened, it was less than [-] kilometers away from Liaozhong. The expected ambush did not appear, which made people worry General Meijin, surprised, nothing happened?

General Meijin was very puzzled. He found out on the map that from Sujiatun and Yuhong to Panshan and Beining, he had to go through Sifangtai to Panjiabao. This is the most suitable area for ambushes. For western Liaoning, the area around Sifangtai and Panjiabao is a winding mountain range with a few low peaks, and in the summer with deep forest and dense grass, it is not a problem to ambush tens of thousands of troops here.

After Sifangtai and Panjiabao, there is an undisturbed plain. Only a fool would choose such a terrain to fight back. Of course, the commander of the independent division is not a fool. On the contrary, everyone is as cunning as a fox. Therefore, except Sifang In the area of ​​Taiwan and Panjiabao, and then to Panshan and Beining, there is no place suitable for counterattack. This is also what General Meijin is puzzled about.

No matter how you say it, after Liaozhong, Manduhu, and Liujianfang line, you will approach Panshan and Beining, and finally you are the closest to your goal. Since you can't figure it out, General Meijin can only hold his doubts in his stomach and take a deep breath. In a tone, the order came: "Convey my order, occupy Manduhu, Liaozhong, and Liujianfang as quickly as possible, and the troops rest for an hour before continuing to set off!"

On the earthen building at the east gate of Liaozhong County, Colonel Xu Zixiao, the commander of the First Brigade of the Shandong Garrison District of the Independent Division, held up a telescope and observed a green field in the distance. Among the fields, there were several wide dirt roads. They were the Kwantung Army’s Liaoxi Assault Corps. , the only way to enter Liaozhong County, he was transferred from a regiment commander of the field army to the brigade commander of the local army because of injuries on his body, knowing how to fight such a battle?

Five kilometers away from the earth wall of the county seat is the blocking position of the first brigade. The distance between the two positions is about one kilometer, and closer to the county seat is the artillery regiment of the brigade. However, the artillery regiment of the Shandong Garrison Army, However, it is incomparable with the heavy artillery regiments of the various brigades of the Field Corps. The largest caliber artillery is only [-]mm.

Fortunately, before being transferred to the Northeast battlefield, the logistics department of the garrison did its best to give the four brigades on the expedition and strengthened the artillery, so that the size of the brigade's artillery regiment was almost more than the normal two regiments, and each regiment , Battalion, and Company have all strengthened their mortars and recoilless guns.

This is Xu Zixiao's confidence. The only thing that worries him is the fortifications. The time is short and there is only time to deploy two lines of defense. Moreover, the soil quality here is not suitable for building fortifications, but they can only make do with it. He looked at his watch. , "It's almost time! It's almost time for the little devil!" He thought to himself.

As if responding to Xu Zixiao's thoughts, a staff officer ran up to the earth building, "Report to the brigade commander, and received a report from the reconnaissance company. Our position, ten kilometers away, is all mechanized marches, and the reconnaissance company is continuing to monitor!"

"It's finally here!" Xu Zixiao felt a long-lost excitement. It had been several years since he left the field army, and he hadn't had a real fight with the little devil. "Staff, report to Commander Wang immediately. The vanguard of the Liaoxi Assault Corps, the little devil has tanks!"

The staff officer left in a hurry, Xu Zixiao picked up the phone, "An artillery regiment, I'm Xu Zixiao, get ready for the shelling immediately, the first round of shelling will destroy the little devil's tank, hit hard, give the little devil a blow!"

The position of the Artillery Regiment of the First Brigade of the Shandong Garrison District of the Independent Division began to get busy. The barrels of more than 200 artillery pieces rose slowly under the rising sun and pointed to the east. At this time, the roar of truck motors also Come clearly!

(to be continued) (to be continued...)